The Impact Of Engagement With Social Networking Sites (SNS) And Media Multitasking On Cognitive Skills

In the Network era, the media multitasking and social networking sites use were possible parts of our lives. However, were media multitasking and social networking sites using harmful to our cognitive skills? It was an important issues that needs further exploration. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of engagement with media multitasking and social networking sites on Chinese college students’ cognitive skills.This study investigated the using of social networking sites and the level of media multitasking in500college students from Wuhan City and some of them were assigned to perform tasks in experimental condition.Task1:2(media multitasking experience:heavy, light)×2(color word type: consistent, inconsistent) mixed experimental design was adopted, participants performed incongruent color words (Stroop) test, the results indicated as follows:for heavy media multi-task group, their reaction time on incongruent color word were shorter than light media multitasking groups.Task2:single (media multitasking experience:heavy, light) factorial design was adopted, participants were asked to complete the1-back task, the results indicated that heavy media multitasking groups’reaction time in1-back task were shorter than light media multitasking group.Task3:single (media multitasking experience:heavy, light) factorial design was adopted, the results indicated that heavy media multitasking groups’reaction time in switching task were shorter than light media multitasking group.Task4:2(social networking sites using: heavy, light)×2(word type:QQ related, QQ irrelevant) mixed experimental design was adopted, subjects were asked to complete the emotional stroop test, the results indicated as follows:for heavy social networking sites using group, their reaction time on QQ related words were longer than light social networking sites using group.Task5:2(social networking sites use:heavy, light)×2(image type:QQ related, QQ irrelevant) mixed experimental design was adopted, subjects were asked to complete1-back task, the results indicated as follows:for heavy social networking sites using group, their reaction time on image were shorter than light social networking sites using group.Task6:single (social networking sites use: heavy, light) factorial design was adopted, the results indicated that there was no significant difference between heavy social networking sites using group and light social networking sites using group.Based on the results above, it concluded that the level of media multitasking is associated with individuals’ cognitive skills: media multitasking can improve the individuals’ inhibitory control, working memory capacity and the ability to switch among tasks. Social networking sites using affects individuals’ cognitive skills: the use of social networking sites will cause the individuals’ attentional bias to the information related to social networking sites and improve the capacity of individuals’working memory.Finally, the limitations of the present research were discussed and the future directions of this paper were provided.